Use of the Veterans Health Administration online patient portal among Veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders

Sameer Siddiqui, Bella Etingen, Jamie Patrianakos, Stephanie Shimada, Timothy Hogan, Kim Nazi, Kevin Stroupe, Bridget Smith

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Context/Objective: Online patient portals like the Veteran Health Administration’s (VA) My HealtheVet (MHV) may be particularly useful for Veterans with spinal cord injuries/disorders (SCI/D), many of whom experience barriers to care. The objective of this analysis was to examine MHV use among Veterans with SCI/D. Design: Retrospective database analysis. Setting: VA SCI/D System of Care. Participants: Veterans with SCI/D who utilize VA care. Interventions: N/A Outcome Measures: MHV registration and use of key portal features among Veterans who newly registered for MHV. Veteran characteristics associated with registration and use of portal features using multiple logistic regression. Results: 14.6% of Veterans with SCI/D in our sample registered to use MHV. 48.7% used the medication refill feature, 28.7% used the appointment view feature, 25.0% sent or read at least one secure message and 10.8% used the Blue Button feature. Adjusted analyses indicate that having a C5-8 (OR: 1.36, CI95%: 1.06–1.76, P < 0.05) or T1-S5 (OR: 1.41, CI95%: 1.13–1.78, P < 0.01) (vs. C1–C4), having (vs. not having) neurogenic bladder (OR: 1.45, CI95%: 1.18–1.77, P < 0.01), being married (vs. not married) (OR: 2.00, CI95%: 1.67–2.39, P < 0.01), and increased healthcare utilization in the third (OR: 1.71, CI95%: 1.31–2.24, P < 0.01) and fourth (OR: 1.73, CI95%: 1.27–2.34, P < 0.01) quartiles (vs. first quartile) were associated with increased odds of MHV registration. We also identified factors associated with use of key MHV features. Conclusions: Our results suggest that MHV registration and use of key portal features was limited among Veterans with SCI/D. Effort to increase portal use in this population are warranted.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)917-928
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Spinal Cord Medicine
Volume46
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 2023

Keywords

  • Online patient portal
  • Spinal cord injuries/disorders
  • Veterans
  • eHealth

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Neurology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Use of the Veterans Health Administration online patient portal among Veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this